ASABE Technical Library - Abstract

Abstract.

Butterbur (Petasites japonicus), a perennial plant of asteraceae, is a native Japanese wild vegetable. That cultivated area was 92% as large as that in 2012 because butterbur cultivation requires much time for harvesting and processing. Moreover, the number of farmers is decreasing because of aging. Therefore, Butterbur cultivation is being sought to introduce efficient cultivation methods and to improve processing work.Peeling is one aspect of processing work for butterbur. Butterbur peeling usually done by manual labor requires much work, time, and workers’ trained skill. For that reason, we developed a prototype butterbur peeling machine to increase shipments by efficient processing work. We investigated basic characteristics of butterbur shape and peeling accuracy.

A prototype butterbur peeling machine comprised an air compressor, an air nozzle, flexible rotary axis, and a positioning slide. Butterbur held at the base of plant by flexible rotary axis was peeled using an air blaster. Each butterbur had different height, weight and plant diameter. Therefore, the prototype butterbur peeling machine must have different mechanics to accommodate the various plant characteristics. Butterbur can be peeled with force of 3.14N because of the hardness difference between outside and inner fibers. They can be broken at 12.91N in a vertical direction. Butterbur processing must be reduced by 12.7-17.9% in total weight by peeling. The prototype peeling machine achieved best results when setting the air nozzle at 30°, the positioning slide at 5 cm, the amount of air flow at 152.62 L/min, and using an ALVA2 air nozzle.